Lost AngelesWhile Houston celebrates, L.A. faces a future without NFL football

Every influential voice in the league favored Los Angeles overHouston in the battle for the NFL's 32nd franchise, and with goodreason: L.A., the nation's No. 2 market, has three times as manyTV households as No. 11 Houston. Commissioner Paul Tagliabue alsodidn't want a generation of Angelenos growing up without a hometeam, and as Patriots owner Bob Kraft put it, "It's just not goodbusiness not to be in the second-largest city in America."

Still the league gave Houston, not L.A., its landmark 32nd teamlast week (landmark because this will be the last expansion teamawarded for at least a decade). In the end Texas billionaire BobMcNair delivered what neither Hollywood's Michael Ovitz noranyone else in L.A. could. McNair, 62, rounded up $195 millionin public funding for a 69,500-seat stadium and promised to payfor the rest, probably another $200 million. He said he'd buildthe stadium with a retractable roof so that grass could grow butair conditioning could flow. He guaranteed five years ofsellouts. And when he was told quietly by two influential ownersthat he still needed to distance his $600 million bid fromOvitz's $550 million, it was no problem. Throw in a Super Bowl,McNair said, and I'll go to $700 million. Done deal.

"Everything we asked him to do, he did," said Steelers owner DanRooney, "while Los Angeles had people vying against each other,an argument with the state over funding, and three stadium sites.They had real problems."

Five years ago the expansion Panthers and Jaguars sold for $140million apiece. The Houston deal represents a jump of more than300%, and that has NFL owners, who'll get $23 million each fromthe deal, jumping for joy. "McNair has validated the value of ourfranchises," said the Ravens' Art Modell, who should now have noproblem finding a minority owner to bail him out of his cashcrunch. The Jets should benefit, too, with buyers lining up topay at least $600 million for them.

What about Los Angeles? Al Davis might still move his Raidersback to town, and teams with onerous stadium leases--Arizona,Minnesota, New Orleans--can always threaten to move to L.A. Butif the City of Angels is to become the City of Saints, it mustsettle on a stadium site and find the public funding other townshand out to lure teams. In faction-riddled L.A., that may be animpossible dream. --Peter King

WARRICK ARRESTEDTallahassee Bag Man

Florida State's Peter Warrick was a hero in Tallahassee when hepassed up the NFL draft to return for his senior season. Hebecame an embarrassment last week when he was charged with grandtheft, a felony, in the mall crime of the year.

Police say that on Sept. 29 Warrick and Laveranues Coles,another Florida State receiver, got an illegal discount fromTallahassee department store sales clerk Rachel Myrtil. Theypaid only $10.70 for each of two bags of designer clothes wortha total of $412.38. Coles, Warrick and Myrtil were arrestedeight days later.

Coles, who had previous academic and legal troubles--he had done150 hours of community service on a misdemeanor charge ofassaulting his stepmother, for one thing--was kicked off theteam by coach Bobby Bowden. Warrick, who apologized on nationaltelevision last Saturday before watching Florida State's 31-21win over Miami from the sideline, has been suspendedindefinitely. His Heisman Trophy hopes are surely dust, but whatabout his hopes of rejoining the Seminoles this year? Schoolrules say he must sit as long as he's charged with a felony.

And what of his treatment by Willie Meggs, the state's attorneywho could have charged Warrick, a first offender, with amisdemeanor--as Florida State athletic director Dave Hart andmany others expected--but chose grand theft instead?

Meggs insists he isn't being unduly harsh to Warrick, andlongtime Tallahassee defense lawyer Bill Corry agrees. "Thecomplicating factor is the woman in the store," says Corry. "Ifhe had just taken some shirts and walked out, it's petty theft.But when you involve the clerk, who's supposed to protect heremployer from theft, it becomes embezzlement, and that is viewedas a jail offense."

Corry sympathizes with Warrick. "He probably thought that if theclerk was willing to do this, it was just a perk," he says,"like a police officer eating in a restaurant and never gettinga check. But this is serious."

Says Tallahassee defense lawyer Tom Findley, a former federalprosecutor, "[Meggs] applies the law fairly and equally, but heis tough. There are prosecutors who would have made it pettytheft. Our state attorney will use his discretion toward thetough end of the spectrum." Findley thinks Warrick should eitherplea bargain his charge down to a misdemeanor or plead nocontest to the felony. "He doesn't want to go to trial on thesecharges," he says.

One group of football men--crafty NFL personnel experts--sees abright side to Warrick's trouble. "Picture this scenario," saysone. "You're drafting third, and the teams drafting one and twopass on Warrick. You tell him, 'We'll take you, but your signingbonus will be minimal. Stay on the straight and narrow, andyou'll get big money later.' What happened to him could help us."

ALEX LOWE 1959-1999Death in the Himalayas

He made his name on Rakekniven in Antarctica, Hot Doggies inRocky Mountain National Park, Great Sail Peak on Baffin Island,Kwangde Nup in the Himalayas. In the big-ego sport ofmountaineering Alex Lowe was the biggest name of all. His deathlast week in the Tibetan Himalayas left the climbing world inshock.

Lowe and high-altitude cameraman Dave Bridges died on Oct. 4when a 500-foot-wide, 100-mph avalanche engulfed them onShishapangma, the world's 14th-highest peak. Conrad Anker, theclimber who discovered the long-lost body of George Mallory onMount Everest last May (SCORECARD, May 10), was also caught inthe slide but survived. The three were trying to become thefirst to ski from Shishapangma's 26,291-foot summit.

Lowe, who twice summitted Everest, was famed for his strength,speed and courage. When a storm trapped two climbers below the19,500-foot summit plateau of Mount McKinley's West Rib in 1995,Lowe and three companions rode in a Chinook helicopter to theplateau and fixed 300 feet of line that led down to the strandedclimbers. One was unable to walk, so Lowe piggybacked him up therope to the chopper--an astonishing feat at that altitude. Thesame year Lowe and Anker helped the McKinley Park Serviceevacuate a pair of climbers stranded at 19,000 feet. Ankerdescended with the stronger man. "That left Alex with adehydrated, hypothermic, frostbitten climber who couldn't walk,"says Colin Grissom, then the doctor at McKinley's high-altitudecamp. "So he clipped the guy to his harness and dragged him downto 17,000 feet. That's a hell of an achievement--the guy wouldhave died."

Lowe's seeming invulnerability made his death all the morestunning. Says Grissom, "He was the one who could push thelimits and live."

PGA TOURNotah the Brave

Golf's only switch-putting Native American won the MichelobChampionship on Sunday. The victory was worth $450,000 to NotahBegay III, a Stanford teammate of Tiger Woods and Casey Martinwho's half Navajo, half Pueblo and all guts. "Inexplicable --theemotions," said Begay after he caught Mike Weir and Tom Byrumwith birdies on 17 and 18 and won a sudden-death playoff. "Onthe second playoff hole I felt I was suffocating."

Begay, 27, isn't your typical deadpan tour pro. He used to painthis cheeks with clay before college matches at Stanford, wherehe was No. 2 man behind Woods and a spot ahead of Martin on aCardinal team that finished second at the 1995 NCAAchampionships. (He was also known around campus as the team'sbest dancer.) After bagging the face-painting ritual for fear ofperpetuating a racial stereotype, he knocked around the minorleague Canadian and Nike tours, earning just $3,801 in threeNike seasons. Nothing clicked, not even the oddball puttingstyle he devised: He hits righthanded on putts that break rightto left but turns around and hits left-to-right putts from theleft side. "There are demons to fight on the course," saysBegay, who never stops tinkering with his game.

Golf's gods smiled on him at last year's Nike Dominion Open inGlen Allen, Va. During the second round Begay, who entered thetournament with $831 in earnings for the year, aced a 208-yardhole and knocked in a final, crucial eight-foot putt to shoot59. That made him the third player ever to break 60 on a majorU.S. tour. Even after fading to a sixth-place tie that week heearned $8,437.50, and he stayed hot enough to finish 10th on thefinal Nike money list with $136,289, good enough for anexemption on this year's PGA Tour.

Begay missed seven cuts and had only one top 20 finish in hisfirst 21 events this year. Then he rode a third-round 63 tovictory at the Reno-Tahoe Open on Aug. 29. At the Michelob onSunday, approaching the tee on the par-3 17th, he knew that byplaying safe he could finish in the top three, climb into thetop 40 on the money list and qualify for next year's Masters.But as he stood on the tee, Begay decided that wasn't enough."We're here to win. I'm going for the flag," he told his caddie,Don Thom. His birdie got him within a shot of the lead.

An hour later, on the second hole of the playoff with Byrum,Begay chipped out of tangled rough to four feet, set uplefthanded and canned the putt, capping a comeback Byrumcharacterized as "Notah coming out of the blue."

"I'm experiencing an overflow of emotion and anxiety," saidBegay, who has topped the $1 million mark in earnings for 1999."I'm overwhelmed."

For once the No. 2 man was the cardinal Cardinal. Martinfinished third in the Nike New Mexico Classic--virtuallyassuring that he'll join his old teammates on the big Tour nextyear--and Woods, who took the week off, remained stuck at$4,266,585.

SOCCER WILD MAN The Animal's Out of His Cage

One soccer writer called him "the most maddening, frustrating,jaw-dropping, hair-pulling, coronary-inducing center forward inthe universe." That was after Brazilian soccer star Edmundo gotin trouble with animal rights activists for allegedly feedingbeer to a chimpanzee, but before he was jailed for manslaughter.

"I'm realistic about my talent," Edmundo said last spring. "I amprobably the greatest player in the world." Yet Edmundo Alves deSouza Neto, known as O Animal to soccer fans, has yet to max outhis talent. After his pro debut with Rio de Janeiro's Vasco DaGama club in 1992 he was passed around like a hot potato byBrazil's top clubs because he was all-world in suspensions--forinsulting referees, assaulting opponents and, once, insultingand assaulting a ref and an opponent in the same game. Edmundowas a head case, but there was genius in his feet.

After rejoining Vasco in 1997, he scored an astounding 29 goalsin 25 games. That earned him a $2.7 million-a-year gig withFiorentina of Italy's Serie A, the richest and probably bestleague in the world. He lasted a year and a half in Italy butwas never happy there. So now Edmundo, 28, is back with Vasco.Last month he scored two goals and assisted on two more in a 4-2road win over Corinthians in Sao Paulo and then fought with aheckler in the parking lot. "A coward hit me in the back,"Edmundo said. "I had to defend myself."

"Frankly," said Sao Paulo's police chief, "I don't know how muchfaith we should place in what Edmundo says."

The day after the brawl Edmundo went ape. To celebrate the firstbirthday of his son, Junior, he hired an entire circus for theday. Among the clowns, elephants and acrobats running around hisRio mansion was a chimp called Pedrinho. The Animal allegedlyfed beer to the animal, a stunt that could lead to athree-to-12-month jail term if he's charged with animal crueltyand convicted.

That's not his biggest worry. Last March, Edmundo got a 41/2-year suspended sentence for manslaughter. On Dec. 2, 1995,speeding down a Rio boulevard, he hit another car, dragging itabout 100 feet and killing both passengers as well as a womanwho was with him. He escaped with cuts and bruises.

After losing an appeal in the manslaughter case last week,Edmundo was ordered to serve his time behind bars. But only atnight--he was free to leave the prison each day. Even thatpunishment lasted only a single night, however. Last Thursdaythe Superior Tribunal of Justice in Brasilia set the Animal freepending another appeal.

Zamboni DrivingTHE ICEMAN ROLLETH

Until a few weeks ago Jimmy (the Iceman) MacNeil was just a bigZamboni driver on a small pond--the Brantford (Ont.) CivicCentre. Now, after years of working before crowds of fewer than200, he stands at the threshold of ice-resurfacing immortality.MacNeil, the 38-year-old son of a Zamboni repairman, leadsballoting for Zamboni Driver of the Year at www.zamboni.com.

His legend began when he called in to a morning radio show inHamilton, Ont. As soon as the hosts found out he was a Zambonidriver, MacNeil became a semiregular on their program. His famesnowballed, and now he might be the most celebrated Brantfordresident since Wayne Gretzky. He has been profiled by The TorontoStar and on Canadian TV, and Walter Gretzky, the Great One's dad,has plugged MacNeil's candidacy on radio.

Voting ends on Dec. 1. The winner will work the ice at the Feb.6 NHL All-Star Game in Toronto. It would be a dream come truefor MacNeil, who followed his father into the family businessand says of his job, "I like being in front of the crowd. I likethe cold air on my face."

GARNETT'S JILTED AGENTSee Ya Later, Negotiator

Kevin Garnett's six-year, $126 million contract with theTimberwolves, signed in October 1997, so drastically changed theNBA's financial landscape that owners orchestrated the firstwork stoppage in league history. They got what they wanted fromlast year's lockout: a collective bargaining agreement cappingsalaries. In hindsight Garnett's decision to re-sign ratherthan wait for a new CBA was a masterstroke: While others fromhis '95 rookie class who signed last year maxed out at $70million over six years, he got $56 million more.

The man who negotiated that deal was agent Eric Fleisher, whodelighted in knowing that his star client would be the best-paidplayer in the league for years. So imagine his surprise when the6'11", two-time All-Star forward fired him in July. "I wasblindsided, absolutely shocked," says Fleisher. "I did more forKevin than was humanly possible."

Garnett declined to comment on the split, but sources close tohim say he may have seen Fleisher as "too controlling." Fleisherblames his former protege Andy Miller, who left him in July foranother agency, W Sports, and whose client list features formerFleisherites Chauncey Billups, Al Harrington and Joe Smith aswell as Garnett. "Here's a guy I gave a job to right out ofcollege," Fleisher says, "and for him to do what he did...."

"It was time to move on," says Miller, who spent eight yearswith Fleisher and says he expects to be sued by him. "I wantedto diversify, and that wasn't going to be possible in themom-and-pop environment I was in."

Garnett's switch could mean millions for Miller when it's timefor a new contract. If Garnett gets the maximum allowed underthe new CBA, he'll receive $267 million over seven years. Topagents get 4% commissions. You do the math.

COLOR ILLUSTRATION: ILLUSTRATION BY RANDY DAHLKCOLOR PHOTO: BILL FRAKES COLD COMFORT On the sideline at the Miami game, Warrick had a Popsicle and 60 minutes to think. COLOR ILLUSTRATION: ILLUSTRATION BY MARK ZINGARELLICOLOR PHOTO: HY PESKINCOLOR PHOTO: DAVID CANNON/ALLSPORT Air Nino Spain won its first Dunhill Cup on Sunday at St. Andrews, but nothing in the 16-nation event matched the sight of Michael Jordan chasing Sergio (el Nino) Garcia down a fairway at the Old Course on the day before the tournament. Teen dream Garcia may have more game on the links, but there's no doubt the old man could catch him on a fast break.COLOR PHOTO: KRISTOFFER ERICKSON MOUNTAIN MAN Lowe's admirers found it hard to believe that anything could kill him.COLOR PHOTO: BRANDON KNAPPCOLOR PHOTO: TOM BUCHANAN/TITAN SPORTS

R.S.V. SPREE

He had a lot on his mind--like embodying the American Dream forhis sporting goods company, And1, and paying $105,000 to twomotorists he hit with his car. So Latrell Sprewell blew off thestart of Knicks camp and didn't bother to call the guys who payhim $9 million a year. What, Spree worry? It's not as if heattacked his coach or anything.

Go Figure

19NFL teams that were outscored by the Red Sox on Sunday, whenBoston clobbered the Indians 23-7.

12Miami track-and-fielders who play football, including Ed Reed,who won the Big East javelin title on his first throw.

Blotter

ExposedWilliam McMullen, a football coach at Old Colony High inRochester, Mass., who had pretended to be former Notre DameAll-America Nick Eddy for more than 20 years. The ruse wasdiscovered when the real Eddy phoned the school.

BenchedBrandi Chastain, who lost her starting job during last week'sU.S. Women's Cup because her frantic promotional schedule cutinto her practice time. Chastain was a second-half sub in theU.S. team's three games, all victories.

DiedBasketball Hall of Famer John McLendon, 84, who learned the gamefrom James Naismith at Kansas in the '30s and who, as coach ofthe ABL's Cleveland Pipers in '62, became the first coach toresign after a run-in with owner George Steinbrenner.

MovedRonaldo Da Costa, world-record holder in the marathon, who isrelocating from Sao Joao Nepomuceno, Brazil, to Boulder, Colo.,after three failed attempts to kidnap him in Brazil.

WhippedLoi Chow, 33, a 128-pound jockey who lost a four-round decisionto 129-pound landscaper Margaret McGregor, 36, in the firstsanctioned bout between a man and a woman. Fight fans chanted,"Margaret! Margaret!"

The Tao of Falling

When extreme kayaker Tao Berman paddled over 98-foot UpperJohnston Falls in Canada's Banff National Park on Aug. 23, thespectacle brought onlookers to tears. But for Berman theworld-record plunge was an intellectual exercise.

"I never feel fear. This was pure calculation," says Berman, a20-year-old Oregonian. That equation had some tough variables: Abad landing would crush his spine and even a good one couldcrack ribs, and the waterfall flowed through a crack in thecliff face barely eight feet wide. Berman grazed rocks on oneside of the falls halfway down, then plunged cleanly into thewater. For an interminable moment his kayak bobbed upside downin the cauldron. "There was silence, as if everyone stoppedbreathing when he did," says Christian Knight, who watchedBerman's plunge from a kayak at the base of the falls. "Then herolled up, and people were applauding and crying."

WORD FOR WORDStone Cold IPO

"Our creative team, headed by Vincent McMahon, develops soapopera-like story lines employing the same techniques that areused by many successful dramatic television series. Theinteractions among the characters reflect a wide variety ofcontemporary topics, often depicting exaggerated versions ofreal life situations and typically containing 'good versus evil'or 'settling the score' themes....

"We currently have exclusive contracts with approximately 110performers. Our performers are independent contractors who arehighly trained and motivated and portray popular characters suchas The Big Show, Kane, Mankind, The Rock, Stone Cold SteveAustin [above, winning] and The Undertaker. We constantly seekto identify, recruit and develop additional performers for ourbusiness. Once recruited, established performers are immediatelyincorporated into our story lines while less experiencedperformers are invited to participate in our extensive trainingprogram. Promising candidates are often 'loaned' to smallregional promoters of wrestling events, allowing these newperformers to hone their skills by working in front of liveaudiences and appearing on local television programs. The mostsuccessful and popular performers are then incorporated into ourtelevision programming and pay-per-view events where theircharacters are more fully developed."

--From the prospectus for the World Wrestling Federation'sinitial public offering of stock, scheduled for next week.

This Week's Sign That the Apocalypse Is Upon Us

Basketball Hall of Famer George Gervin does the voice of acard-playing dog on ESPN's NFL ads.

Throw in a Super Bowl, McNair said, and I'll go to $700 million.

They Said It

PAUL GASCOIGNEMiddlesbrough midfielder, on being ejected from an EnglishPremier League soccer game: "What is the world coming to whenyou get a red card and get fined two weeks' wages for calling agrown man a wanker?"